Amber's Chicken Bowtie Pasta

Paul loves this recipe! Can you tell? He requests it at least once a week.

Cook about 1/2 lb to 3/4 lbs bowtie pasta, while it's cooking prepare the rest of the ingredients.
1 chicken breast, cooked and diced
1 zucchini sliced.
8oz mushrooms, sliced (I don't like mushrooms so I substitute a yellow squash)
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed or chopped
6 slices bacon, cooked and chopped (Paul likes extra bacon, so we do 12 slices)
1/4 cup fresh basil (We usually don't have fresh, so we do 4 teaspoons dried)
1 cup of fresh Parmesan cheese- not the shaky powdery stuff. Get the real stuff!
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Chop the bacon in to bite sized pieces and cook when that's done, put about a tablespoon of butter in a pan, I usually use the pan I just cooked the pasta in, it's deep enough to hold everything. Add the zucchini and mushrooms/yellow squash. Saute for 5 minutes until they're soft, and add the garlic, saute for another minute, don't burn! Pour the cup of cream in the pan with the garlic and vegetables, let it simmer for about 5 minutes until it gets a little thick. Add 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the basil, chicken and the bacon. Now add the cooked, drained pasta. Stir everything together, taste it and add salt and pepper to taste. Pour it in a shallow cooking dish and spread the last 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese on top, add more if it looks bare. Stick it under the broiler in your stove until the top turns brown and bubbles. Get your salad and bread sticks ready, this is going to be better than olive garden!

Orange Chicken

I got this yummy recipe from Paul's sister, Jill. It does take some prep work before dinner but it is all worth it. I had time one day to make the marinate but that night we didn't end up making it dinner so it marinated for three days which tasted awesome. I would say this recipe is better than any orange chicken we've tried. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

· Sauce:
· 1 1/2 cups water
· 2 tablespoons orange juice
· 1/4 cup lemon juice
· 1/3 cup rice vinegar
· 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
· 1 cup packed brown sugar
· 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
(I just used 1/4 tsp ground ginger from McCormick because I don't
really like the taste of fresh ginger)
· 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
· 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
· 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

· 3 tablespoons cornstarch
· 2 tablespoons water

· Chicken:
· 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
· 1 cup all-purpose flour
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 1/4 teaspoon pepper
· 3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Pour 1 1/2 cups water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce into a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir in the brown sugar, ginger, garlic, chopped onion, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and cool 10 to 15 minutes.

Place the chicken pieces into a resealable plastic bag. When contents of saucepan have cooled, pour 1 cup of sauce into bag. Reserve the remaining sauce. Seal the bag, and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

In another resealable plastic bag, mix the flour, salt, and pepper. Add the marinated chicken pieces, seal the bag, and shake to coat.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken into the skillet, and brown on both sides. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels, and cover with aluminum foil.
Wipe out the skillet, and add the sauce. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Mix together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water; stir into the sauce. Reduce heat to medium low, add the chicken pieces, and simmer, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step from Jill. I dipped my cut up chicken pieces in egg BEFORE I shook it in the flour mixture. It made the breading not fall off as it was simmering in the orange sauce. I didn't use all the cornstarch mixture either. I just added it until the sauce was the consistency that I liked. Not to thick, not to runny. Also, I ran out of red pepper flakes so I didn't add them in when I brought you dinner. If you like them, go for it.